Merchandise storing and displaying cabinet



Jan. 30, 1934.

H. W-. RUSSELL MERCHANDISE STORING AND DISPLAYING CABINET Filed June 28, 1932 2 Sheets-Sheet 1 NVENTOR ATTORNEYS MERCHANDISE STORING AND DISPLAYING CABINET Filed June 28, 1932 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 g4 32 29 Z; s 25 a7 N I 55 INVENTOR 2/ A flo-ouaid 36 JO 43 BYVD fig 7/. zhz 7 fl ATTORNEYJ Patented Jan. 30, 1934 UNITED STATES MERCHANDISE STORING AND DISPLAYING CABINET Howard W. Russell, Collingswood, N. J.

Application June 28, 1932. Serial No. 619,662

7 Claims.

This invention relates to a cabinet which is more particularly intended for storing and displaying merchandise of various kinds.

One of the objects of this invention is to provide a cabinet of this character which permits of securely enclosing the merchandise when the same is not on display and thereby avoid the deposit of dust on the goods and possibly injuring or reducing the value of the same.

Another object of this invention is to provide a cabinet of this character which is so constructed that the same can be located behind the counter of a store and still permit the goods to be displayed when required without consuming an undue amount of space for this purpose.

A further object of this invention is to provide a storage and display cabinet which is made in the form of a unit which is capable of being assembled with other units of like construction either by placing such units side by side or one above the other, thereby enabling the'storage and display capacity of the store'to be increased from time to time as circumstances require.

Further objects and advantages inherent in this invention will appear as the description of the construction, operation and advantages of the same proceeds as follows.

In the accompanying drawings:-

Figure 1 is a perspective view of a practical embodiment of a storage and displaying cabinet embodying a suitable form of my invention.

Figure 2 is a similar view showing the collapsible or foldable door at the front of the casing moved into position in which the entrance of the cabinet is opened, and a movable shelf, tray or drawer normally arranged within the casing is supported in an inclined position on the front side thereof for the purpose of more conveniently displaying the goods contained therein.

Figure 3 is a similar view showing the door or lid of the cabinet moved downwardly from its vertical closed position into a horizontal open position, independently of any shelves, trays or' doors within the cabinet, so that this door forms a shelf on which goods may be displayed to a customer.

Figure 4 is a vertical longitudinal section of the cabinet corresponding to the position of the parts shown in Fig. 3.

Figure 5 is a fragmentary vertical section, on an enlarged scale, taken on'line 5--5 Fig. 1, show ing the preferred means for detachably connecting the door of the casing with a movable shelf, tray or drawer in the casing.

Figure 6 is a perspective view of the means whereby the coupling and uncoupling of the door and the movable shelf, tray or drawer of the cabinet is effected.

Figure 7 is a fragmentary vertical section, on an enlarged scale, taken on line 7-7 Fig. Land showing means for slidin'gly and pivotally mounting the rear end of a shelf, tray or drawer on a side wall of the casing.

Figure 8 is a fragmentary horizontalsection taken on line 8-8 Fig. 7.

Figure 9 is a fragmentary horizontal section, on an enlarged scale, taken on line' 9 -9' Fig. 4, and showing the means for guiding one of the door supporting barson the casing and limiting the outward movement of this bar'relative to the casing. v

Figure 10 is a fragmentary vertical section, on an enlarged scale, taken; on line 10-'-10 Fig. (l, and showing the means for supporting the front endof a shelf, tray or drawer on the casing so as to permit holding this shelf, tray or drawer either in a horizontal position" or moving the same downwardly into a forwardly tilting position.

Figure 11 is-a fragmentary vertical-longitudinal section, taken on line'11--1'1 Fig. 10'.

In the following description similar characters of reference indicate like partsin the several figures of the drawings-:'---

The enclosing casing or body of this cabinet may be constructed'of any suitable material, but in the preferred construction the samecomprises a horizontal bottom 20, a horizontal top 21, two longitudinal upright side walls 22" connecting the corresponding edges of the bottom and top, and a rear upright wall 23 connecting'the rear edges of the bottom, top and side walls, thereby leaving the front end of this casing open so as t o' form an entrance through which the g'obdsormerchandise to be stored and displayed may be moved into and out of the cabinet.

When this cabinet is not used for display purposes the entrance to'the same is closed for" the purpose of protecting the goods stored within the same by means of a closure which-inits preferred form consists of a door pivotally mounted at its lower end oredgeon'the casing and capable of being swung vertically into an upright closed position or into a more or less openposition, as circumstances require.

In the preferred construction, this door comprises a lower section 24 which-is connected at its lower edge by hinges 25 with the front edge of the bottom of the casing, an'intermediat'e'section' 26 pivotally connected at its lower edge by hinges 27 with the upper edge of the lower section 24, and an upper section 28 pivotally'connected at its lower edge by hinges 29 with the upper edge of the intermediate section 26. The hinges 25, 2'7 and 29 are so attached that the seveial sections of this door, while in alinemenhrn'ay be swung in unison upwardly into an upright positionfor' closing the front of the cabinet, as shown in'Fig. 1, or the same may be'swung forwardly and. downwardly into a horizontal position, as

shown in Figs. 3 and 4, so that the upper or inner side of this door may serve as a shelf or table for displaying wares thereon, which are removed from the interior of the cabinet, and the several sections may also be collapsed or folded one relatively to the other for the purpose of utilizing this door as a bracket or brace for supporting a shelf, tray or drawer in a slanting or inclined position at the front of the casing for more conveniently displaying goods therein to a customer. For the last-mentioned purpose the hinges 25, 27, 29 are so mounted that the lower door section 24 may be swung outwardly into an inclined position relative to the casing, the intermediate door section may be swung downwardly toward the outer side of the lower door section 24 so as to assume an angular position relative thereto, and the upper door section v28 may be swung forwardly toward the inner side of the intermediate section 26 so as to assume an angular position toward this intermediate section for the purpose of producing one form of brace or bracket which will permit of supporting a shelf, tray or drawer in an inclined or forwardly tilting position after the same has been removed from within the casing, as shown by full lines in Fig. 2.

If desired, the lower and intermediate door sections may be swung forwardly from the casing while these two door sections are still in line and only the upper section may be swung inwardly toward the inner side of the intermediate section so as to assume an angular position relative thereto when it is desired to utilize the door for supporting a shelf, drawer or tray in the inclined position shown by dotted lines in Fig. 2, which last-mentioned position is intermediate the normal horizontal position of this drawer and the maximum inclined position shown by full lines in this figure.

Various means may be employed for supporting the door of the casing either in the horizontal position shown in Figs. 3 and 4, or the more or less angular position of the several sections; relatively to each other, as shown in Fig. 2. The means, however, which are shown in the drawings have been found satisfactory in practice and as there shown these door supporting means are constructed as follows:

Adjacent to opposite longitudinal edges of the door and side walls of the casing are arranged two supporting bars each of which consists of of one of the side walls of the casing adjacent to thefront end thereof, and at its extreme rear end this slide bar is provided with a stop lug 34 which is adapted to engage with the inner edge of the guide loop 33 in the outermost position of this bar, as shown in Figs. 4 and 9, so as to v support the several sections of the door in a horizontal position and in line with each other, so that thesame constitute a shelf for displaying goods thereon.

When the lower and intermediate sections of the door are swung open and into an angular position relatively to each other, as shown by full lines in Fig. 2, the straight front parts 30 of the supporting bars rest lengthwise uponthe inner side of the intermediate door section 26 and these bars and the door sections are maintained in this position by a shelf, tray or drawer connected to the. casing and this door in the manner shown by full lines in Fig. 2, as will presently appear.

When the door of the cabinet is closed and arranged in a vertical position across the en trance of the casing the supporting bars slide rearwardly through the guide loops 33 and in this position of the door the lower and intermediate sections of the door engage with the front edge of stop plates 35 secured to the front part of the inner sides of the side walls of the casing, and the upper door section 28 engages at its opposite vertical edges with the front ends of stop plates 36 secured horizontally to the upper parts on the inner sides of the side walls of the enclosing casing.

The space within the enclosing casing may be divided in various ways for the purpose of storing therein the goods or merchandise to be sold or displayed, but in the preferred construction a plurality of stationary horizontal shelves 3'7 are mounted one above the other in the lower part of the interior of this enclosing casing, and in the uppermost part thereof is arranged a movable support for goods which may be moved into and out of the enclosing casing through the entrance thereof for the purpose of either storing or displaying the goods. As shown in Figs. 3, 4, 5, '7 and 10 this movable support is constructed in the form of a tray or drawer which has a bottom 38; two longitudinal side walls 39, a front wall 40 connecting the bottom and side walls, and a rear wall 41 connecting the rear ends of the bottom and side walls.

In the preferred construction this upper tray or drawer is so mounted within the casing that the same is supported in a horizontal position while in the casing, as best shown in Figs. 3 and 4, and when this drawer is pulled forwardly out of the casing the same may assume a downwardly tilting, inclined or slanting position, as shown in Fig. 2, so as to permit of a more convenient and complete inspection of the goods which are contained in this drawer and still not encroach unduly upon the space behind the counter over which the goods are sold.

The preferred means for thus mounting this tray or drawer on the casing are constructed as follows:

On the upper parts of the opposing inner sides of the side walls 22 of the casing two horizontal guideways 42 are provided, which guideways preferably have the form of grooves which are cut in these side walls if the enclosing casing is made of wood, but may be pressed in these walls if the same are made of sheet steel or similar material.

Within each of these guideways 42 is arranged a guide shoe or block 43 which is slidable horizontally therein and pivotally connected with the rear part of the exterior surface of the adjacent side wall 39 of the tray by means of a screw 44, as shown in Fig. 7, or by other suitable means. The forward movement of each of these slidable shoes or blocks is limited by engagement with a stop 45 arranged on the adjacent stop plate 36 near the front end thereof, as shown in Fig. 8.

The inward movement of the tray is limited by engagement of the rear ends of the side walls with the back wall 23 of the enclosing casing, as shown in Fig. 4. On the exterior of the side walls of the tray adjacent to the upper edge thereof are arranged two hangers, each of which is provided with an upright leg 46 which is secured to the front part of the respective side wall 39 by means of screws 47, as shown in Fig. 10, or other suitable means, and a lug 48 projecting laterally from the upper end of the leg 46 and adapted to engage with the bottom 49 of a notch formed in the upper front part of the adjacent stop plate 36, as shown in Figs. 10 and 11, which bottom is preferably inclined from its inner end toward its front end, as shown in Fig. 11.

When the tray or drawer is in its normal horizontal position within the casing for the purpose of storing the goods contained within this drawer, the front end of the tray is supported by means of the hangers 46, 48 on the bottom of the notches 50 of the plates 36, which latter in efiect form part of the casing, while the rear end of the tray is supported by means of the slidable shoes 43 which are connected to the tray by means of the screws 44 and rest on the bottom of the horizontal guideways 42. 7

Upon withdrawing the tray or drawer from the casing the lugs 48 of the hangers at the front end thereof are disengaged from the notches 50 of the casing and the drawer or tray is therefore permitted to drop into a forwardly inclined tilting or slanting position which permits of more readily inspecting the goods in the same and displaying the same to the customers.

Such withdrawal of the drawer or tray in the casing may be effected by hand independently of the door which normally closes the entrance of the casing. Means, however, are provided whereby this upper tray or drawer may be automatically and simultaneously withdrawn from the casing, dropped into an inclined position and supported in this position by swinging the door into an open position and folding the latter more or less. For this purpose the upper section of the door is made of a width approximately equal to the depth or height of the drawer or tray and these parts so organized that in the closed position of the door and drawer these members are in alinement with each other; and means are provided for detachably connecting the upper section of the door nd the front wall of the tray or drawer.

This coupling in its preferred form comprises a keeper 51 which is attached to the outer side of the front wall of the tray and is provided with a horizontal transverse slot 52, so that in effect this keeper has the general form of a hook, and the tray or door is provided with a coupling device consisting generally of a shank 53 journaled horizontally in the upper section 28 of the door, and provided at its rear end with a coupling finger 54 which is adapted to move into and out of engagement with the notch 52 of the keeper, and provided at its front end with a handle or knob 5.5 whereby the coupling finger may be turned into and out of engagement with the keeper.

When it is desired to open the door of the enclosing casing independently of the upper tray or drawer, then the knob 55 is first turned in the direction for disengaging the finger 54 from the notch 52 of the keeper, and then a forward pull on this knob will open the door and permit of moving the same downwardly into the horizontal position shown in Figs. 3 and 4, which permits the upper side of the same to be utilized as a shelf for displaying goods which are removed from the internal shelves 37 of. the casing.

While the door is thus moved into its fully opened position the tray or drawer may also be pulled forwardly out of the casing for the purpose of placing the articles therein or displaying the same to the trade. If, however, it is desired to simultaneously pull out the tray or drawer from the enclosing casing in unison with the opening of the door and also utilize the latter as a brace for holding the tray or drawer in an inclined position, this may be accomplished by first turning the knob 55 of the coupling device so as to engage the coupling finger 54 with the notch 52 of the keeper, as shown in Figs. 5 and 6, and then pulling forwardly on this knob, whereby the drawer will be pulled forwardly out of the enclosing casing and swung downwardly into an inclined position with the door.

While the drawer and door are thus coupled the upper section 28 of the door remains in parallelism with the front wall of the drawer but the lower and intermediate sections of this wall may be folded or collapsed so that they assume an angular upwardly converging position relatively to each other, as shown by full lines in Fig. 2; at which time the front part of the bottom of the tray or drawer will rest against the inner side of the intermediate section 26 of the door, so that these sections of the door at this time form a brace which operates a bracket which supports the drawer or tray in this inclined position, and thus leaves the hands of the attendant free to manipulate goods while making a demonstration or sale to a customer. When the lower and intermediate sections of the door are thus moved into an angular position relatively to each other the drawer assumes its maximum inclined or tilting position.

If so desired the lower and intermediate sections of the door may be retained in line with each other while the upper section is coupled with the front end of the drawer, as shown by dotted lines in Fig. 2, in which case the drawer is tilted or inclined to a lesser extent than when the lower and intermediate sections of the door are partly folded into the angular position represented by full lines in this figure. When the drawer or tray is thus held in the intermediate inclined position indicated by dotted lines in Fig. 2 the same does not display the goods as fully to the customer as when this tray is in its maximum inclined position, but in this upper inclined position the tray can be loaded more conveniently with goods when required, inasmuch as it leaves both hands of the operator free to perform this function.

Although the drawings show the casing provided with a plurality of shelves and a single tray or drawer, it obviously can be divided internally in any other suitable manner, either by means of pigeon-holes as well as various forms of vertical and horizontal divisions for storing merchandise of various kinds in the most convenient and readily accessible manner.

If desired the upper section of the door may be provided on its inner side adjacent to its upper edge with a raised molding or other perpendicular structure for the purpose of preventing merchandise from slipping or rolling forwardly off the door when the same is displayed thereon the tray or drawer when open, but also enables this door to operate in a smaller radius than would be the case when the door is made in one piece, and thereby renders this cabinet particularly suited in cases where saving of space is an important consideration. 7

This cabinet permits of storing the merchandise so as to save the same from the depreciating efiects of dirt and dust and also permits of handling and displaying the goods without requiring any other counter or shelf for this purpose.

The particular construction of the supporting arms or bars which carry the front door and the tray while in an open position permits of securing this function without the use of any complicated joints or interference with other parts, while at the same time providing a rigid support for the door and drawer while the same are withdrawn from the casing.

When installing this cabinet in a store it is desirable to arrange the same on a level or slightly below the eyes of the customer so as to facilitate inspection of the goods by the customer and thus enable the merchant to utilize the storage space to the best advantage. Moreover, by providing the storage and displaying capacity in the same cabinet it is possible to move the particular merchandise in the cabinet from one place to another in the store and thereby give the goods whatever prominence may be required to suit special sales or seasonal changes associated with these goods.

This cabinet also renders it more easy to group all the goods of a certain kind in a more advantageous arrangement and also renders it convenient in keeping stock, taking inventory and also replenishing the supply when necessary.

I claim as my invention:-

1. A storage and display cabinet comprising an enclosing casing having an entrance on its front end, a door for closing said entrance pivoted at its lower edge to said casing, a drawer slidable into and out of said casing through the entrance thereof, and means for causing said drawer to slide outwardly upon opening said door including a coupling device for connecing and disconnecting said door and drawer while the door is in a closed position.

2. A storage and display cabinet comprising an enclosing casing having an entrance on its front end, a door for closing said entrance pivoted at its lower edge to said casing, a drawer slidable into and out of said casing through the entrance thereof, and means for causing said drawer to slide outwardly upon opening said door, including a keeper mounted on the front part of the drawer, and a catch having a shank pivoted on the door, a coupling finger arranged on the inner end of said shank and adapted to engage said keeper, and a handle at the outer end of said shank for manipulating the catch.

3. A storage and display cabinet comprising an enclosing casing having an entrance on its front end, a door for closing said entrance pivoted at its lower edge to said casing, a drawer normally arranged in said casing, horizontally guiding and vertically pivoting means for mounting said drawer on said casing so that said drawer is slidable into and out of said casing through the entrance thereof, and also capable of swinging vertically, and means for coupling said drawer and door while the latter is in its closed position and causing said door and drawer to move outwardly and inwardly in unison.

4. A storage and display cabinet comprising an enclosing casing having an entrance on its front end, a door for closing said entrance pivoted at its lower edge to said casing, a drawer slidable into and out of said casing through the entrance thereof, and also capable of swinging vertically,

means for slidingly and pivotally supporting said drawer at its rear end on said casing, and supporting means for supporting said drawer in an elevated position at its front end when moved inwardly and permitting said front end to drop when the drawer is moved forwardly, said supporting means including shelves arranged on the front part of said casing, and laterally projecting hangers arranged only on the front part of said drawer and adapted to engage said shelves in the rearmost position of the drawer but to clear said shelveswhile the drawer is moved forwardly more or less from its rearmost position.

5. A storage and display cabinet comprising an enclosing casing having an entrance on its front end, a door for closing said entrance pivoted at its lower edge to said casing, a drawer slidable into and out of said casing through the entrance thereof, and also capable of swinging vertically at its rear end on said casing, said door having a lower section turning forwardly and backwardly on the casing, an intermediate section pivoted on the lower section to turn toward and from the front side of the same, and an upper section pivoted on the intermediate section to turn toward and from the rear side of the latter, whereby said door may be folded and utilized to support said drawer in an inclined position by engagement of said drawer with said upper section while the latter is inclined relative to the intermediate section.

6. A storage and display cabinet comprising an enclosing casing having an entrance at its front end, a door for closing said entrance having a lower part pivoted at its lower end to the casing and an upper part hinged on said lower part so as to be capable of folding outwardly relative to the lower part, a drawer normally arranged in said casing, horizontally guiding and vertically pivoting means for mounting said drawer on said casing so that said drawer is slidable into and out of said casing through the entrance thereof and also capable of swinging vertically, and means for detachably connecting the drawer with the upper section of said door, while the latter is in its closed position.

7. A storage and display cabinet comprising an enclosing casing having an entrance at its front end, a door for closing said entrance, having a lower section pivoted at its lower end on the easing to swing forwardly and backwardly, an intermediate section pivoted on said lower section so as to be movable into an angular position relative to the outer side of said lower section, and an upper section pivoted to said intermediate section so as to be movable into an angular position relative to the inner side of said intermediate section, a drawer normally arranged in said casing, horizontally guiding and vertically pivoting means for mounting said drawer on said casing so that said drawer is slidable into and out of said casing through the entrance thereof and also capable of moving Vertically at its front end into a horizontal and into an inclined position, and means for connecting said drawer with the upper section of said door while the latter is in its closed position.

HOWARD W. RUSSELL. 

